Jolinda
Feminine
Linda means pretty in Spanish and did not start out meaning anything of the kind. The Germanic element behind it meant soft or flexible — and, by a route that language historians still enjoy arguing about, it is probably the same word as the one for a lime tree, whose wood was used for shields.
How old is the name Jolinda?
Jolinda first appears in US birth records in 1936 — 89 years ago. The typical Jolinda alive today was born around 1965, making them about 60 years old. About 900 people named Jolinda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jolinda most popular?
Jolinda peaked in 1947, reaching #1510 nationally. See the whole 1947 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Germanic element meaning soft or flexible to Jolinda
The story of Jolinda
The Germanic element appears at the end of Belinda, Rosalind, Melinda and a dozen medieval names, and its sense is soft, tender or flexible. The connection to the lime tree — sometimes called the linden — is the interesting part: shields were made of that wood because it is light and does not split, so a word for the tree became a word for a shield and then, possibly, a word for softness. Whether the name element is the tree, the shield or the quality is not settled, and all three explanations have serious people behind them.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The front is Jo, from Joseph or Josephine, and the back is Linda, which arrived in English as a name and in Spanish as an adjective. The two have separate histories: the Germanic element turns up at the end of a great many old women's names, and the Spanish word for pretty comes from a Latin word for clean. They met in the middle and English speakers now cannot tell them apart.
How the name formed
- a Germanic element meaning soft or flexible
- possibly the same word as the lime tree used for shields
- Linda established as an English name
- Spanish separately uses linda to mean pretty
- Jolinda appears in the American record in the 1930s
Related forms: Jolynda · Linda
Pronouncing Jolinda
joh-LIN-duh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. The spelling and the sound agree entirely.
Nicknames for Jolinda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1936
- Most girls named
- 196136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1510reached in 1947
- Change vs 2007
- 0.0%7 in 2010, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jolinda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jolynda in English — spelling variant
- Linda in English — related form
Jolindas among us
people named Jolinda are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jolinda sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Jo and Linda are both available and both are complete names.
- It is read correctly at sight by anybody.
- The rhythm is the three-beat one English handles most comfortably.
- It will be heard as Melinda and Belinda by people meeting it once.
- There is no meaning for the compound, only for its halves.
- It is closely dated to the middle of the last century.
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Jolinda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jolindas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Jolinda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jolinda in 2025?
- Jolinda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jolinda with classmates?
- Jolinda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jolinda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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